Florian Wellbrock at the World Swimming Championships in Qatar: frozen, frustrated and behind in 29th place

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Florian Wellbrock at the competitions in Qatar

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Oli Scarff / AFP

Florian Wellbrock didn't want to say anything about his unsuccessful start to the World Cup. Frustrated and cold, the open water Olympic champion crossed the interview area in the port of Doha and didn't know why, as defending champion, he had only swum to 29th place over the Olympic ten kilometers. »He's exhausted. He can't explain it at all and is of course desperate," said national coach Bernd Berkhahn. "He's lying in the back and is cold."

Wellbrock actually wanted to gain new self-confidence with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Nothing came of it.

Things got off to a good start for the German swimmer on Sunday with a cool water temperature of 19.9 degrees and strong winds. In front of his parents, Wellbrock led at the start of the race and established himself in a leading group. “The first two laps were zero effort, everything was easy,” said Berkhahn. »But after the fourth round he noticed that he was getting cramps. The temperature was already restricting him.”

Wellbrock's teammate Oliver Klemet, who won bronze at the last World Championships, was also shaking after the competition. He did not experience a slump like Wellbrock, who finished 1:37.8 minutes behind winner Kristóf Rasovszky from Hungary - even if his eleventh place was also below his own standards.

More disappointments for the German open water swimmers

The day before, Leonie Beck had already clearly missed out on the medals - just like Wellbrock, she had started as defending champion, got into the race well and had run out of energy at the end. She, Klemet and Wellbrock had already secured Olympic qualification. After the first two of five open water World Cup races, it is now clear: there is still a lot of work waiting for the ambitious German swimmers with a view to the races in the Seine in Paris.

On Wednesday Wellbrock starts as the defending champion over five kilometers. Next week he wants to attack the 800 and 1500 meter freestyle in the pool. »Now he has to eat properly. That’s important,” said coach Berkhahn.

jan/dpa